Anon., Ox., 1795
Alone, and pensive, near some desert shore,Far from the haunts of men I love to stray,And, cautiously, my distant path exploreWhere never human footsteps mark'd the way.Thus from the public gaze I strive to fly,And to the winds alone my griefs impart;While in my hollow cheek and haggard eyeAppears the fire that burns my inmost heart.But ah, in vain to distant scenes I go;No solitude my troubled thoughts allays.Methinks e'en things inanimate must knowThe flame that on my soul in secret preys;Whilst Love, unconquer'd, with resistless swayStill hovers round my path, still meets me on my way.
Words in this poem
- explore v. t.
- To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
- haggard a.
- Wild or intractable; disposed to break away from duty; untamed; as, a haggard or refractory hawk. Shak [F. hagard; of German origin, and prop. meaning, of the hegde or woods, wild, untamed. See Hedge, 1st Haw, and -ard.]
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
- methinks v.
- It seems to me; I think. See Me. [AS. þyncan to seem, me þynceedh, me þuhte, OE. me thinketh, me thoughte; akin to G. dünken to seem, denken to think, and E. think. See Me, and Think.]
- resistless a.
- Having no power to resist; making no opposition.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Anon., Ox., 1795 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, the various hands translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Petrarch, Anon., Ox., 1795, in The Sonnets, Triumphs and Other Poems (1859), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #17650, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/petrarch-sonnets/anon-ox-1795.html, id L14519.
Form and metre
Anon., Ox., 1795 is 14 lines in a single stanza. It rhymes ABBAABBACDCDCD, the pattern of the Italian sonnet. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 94%). 98% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 29% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other Italian sonnets, other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABBAABBACDCDCD shoreA · strayB · exploreB · wayA · flyA · impartB · eyeB · heartA · goC · allaysD · knowC · preysD · swayC · wayD
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Alone, and pensive, near some desert shore, | 10 | ˘/·/˘··/˘· |
| Far from the haunts of men I love to stray, | 10 | ·········· |
| And, cautiously, my distant path explore | 10 | ·/˘˘·/˘·˘/ |
| Where never human footsteps mark'd the way. | 10 | ·/˘/˘/···· |
| Thus from the public gaze I strive to fly, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| And to the winds alone my griefs impart; | 10 | ····˘/··˘/ |
| While in my hollow cheek and haggard eye | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Appears the fire that burns my inmost heart. | 10 | ˘/·/···/˘· |
| But ah, in vain to distant scenes I go; | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| No solitude my troubled thoughts allays. | 10 | ·/˘··/˘·˘/ |
| Methinks e'en things inanimate must know | 10 | ˘/··˘/˘˘·· |
| The flame that on my soul in secret preys; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Whilst Love, unconquer'd, with resistless sway | 10 | ······˘/˘· |
| Still hovers round my path, still meets me on my way. | 12 | ·/˘········· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.